Salovey Gets Thanksgiving ​“Gift” Basket From Calhoun Name-Change Activists

Yale University President Peter Salovey got a special delivery of a basket full of Thanksgiving ​“protest” goodies from activists seeking to change the name of Calhoun College.

New Haven activists Kica Matos, John Lugo, Edgar Sandoval, Yale alum Elias Estabrook and current Yale junior Hannah Schmitt, made the trek to Salovey’s office Friday afternoon to deliver the basket as part of the Change the Name Coalition’s ongoing push to rename Calhoun College.

The Change the Name Coalition represents a group of some 46 organizations in New Haven that have organized to support students’ efforts to change the college’s name. For years, Yale students have pressed the university to rename Calhoun College, which is named for vehement slavery proponent and Yale alumnus, former Vice-President John C. Calhoun.

The movement gained momentum this summer when a Calhoun College worker, Corey Menafee, smashed a stained-glass window at the college that depicted scenes of slavery. Matos said Menafee’s action drew awareness to the impact of institutional racism on everyone who came in contact with the building, including those who worked there. He has since joined the coalition’s calls for change.

Salovey responded this summer by forming a committee to help guide his administration in deciding whether to rename the college. Click here and here to read about that

In addition to some organic coffee and protein bars, the basket delivered to Salovey contained a letter, a stuffed lion and two books. Matos said the coffee and the bars were to give Salovey energy to move quickly in making a decision to change the name. The two books — Martin Luther King Jr.‘s Why We Can’t Wait and Henry Louis Gates’ The Classic Slave Narratives — are intended to remind him of the experience of those who had been enslaved and the urgency and history of the civil rights movement.

The lion was intended to remind him that changing the name is a decision that takes courage. The activists also called on Salovey to have the courage to meet with them and not hide in his office the next time they show up. He has responded to a previous letter that they delivered, but has not agreed to meet with the activists face to face.

“We did learn that he was here the last time here,” Matos said of a protest that was held near the end of October. She said that the last time activists showed up on Salovey’s doorstep they were told he wasn’t there. They were told the same thing when they walked into his office Friday afternoon.

They were not loud. Nor did they chant, shout, or attempt to stage a sit-in at the office. They explained why they had come, and an administrative assistant graciously accepted the basket and Matos’ card.

Matos called the delivery of the basket an ​“advancing arc of escalation.” She said next time the protest will be ​“edgier” and likely will involve acts of civil disobedience unless Salovey takes action.

The full text of the letter delivered to Salovey follows below:

HAND DELIVERED

November 18, 2016

Mr. Peter Salovey
President
Yale University
Woodbridge Hall
105 Wall St.
New Haven, CT

Dear President Salovey:

Thank you for your letter to the Change the Name Coalition dated November 2. We regret that you chose not meet with us on October 29th, especially since we learned that you were both available and in your office.

In your letter, you referred us to the Committee to Establish Principles of Renaming. We have already written to them with our recommendation that Calhoun College be renamed. We have also been in communication with several of the committee members.

However, as you yourself noted, the committee exists to establish principles, not make specific recommendations. It will ultimately be up to you to exercise the necessary leadership to once and for all remove John C. Calhoun’s name from the college, and disassociate it from the city of New Haven. There is strong consensus among faculty members, students, City Hall and the residents of this city that this must be done promptly.

To that end, we have created this basket for you, which we hope will serve you well and encourage you to make the right decision, and quickly. The basket contains the following:

1) Two books – the first is The Classic Slave Narratives edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The book presents four classic slave narratives, including The Life of Frederick Douglass, written while John C. Calhoun was serving in the Senate, representing South Carolina. The second book is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Why We Can’t Wait, in which Dr. King reflects on the non-violent movement against racial segregation, explains the Civil Rights movement and urges his supporters to continue their efforts. The book includes his ​“Letter from A Birmingham Jail,” in which he takes on apologists and conformists, reminding them of the suffering of African Americans as a result of racist attitudes and policies and explains ​“why we find it difficult to wait”.

2) A stuffed lion, to remind and encourage you to act with courage, strength, and speed to rename the college.

3) A bag of coffee and a box of protein bars, to provide you with the nourishment and energy that you will need in the coming days.

We eagerly — and impatiently — await your decision.

Sincerely,

Change the Name Coalition